Leaving a yelp review9/3/2023 ![]() ![]() Image via Evgeniya Porechenskaya/ShutterstockĮverything in this world has gone digital, and that includes homework (if you have kids). If you don’t believe the straight facts properly express the severity of a situation, feel free to give a scathing opinion to avoid fudging the objective facts in a potentially slanderous way. If you have a negative experience with a business, keep the facts simple and straightforward, and don’t exaggerate. But it can be abused by patrons and businesses alike. To sum up, Yelp provides consumers with a great service. To get a better understanding of anti-SLAPP laws, click here. Supreme Court has ruled on a variety of cases that help bolster the legal fight against SLAPP. And while the Federal government has not yet passed anti-SLAPP legislation, the U.S. In response to these speech-chilling lawsuits, a number of states – around 30 so far – have passed anti-SLAPP legislation, which makes it easier for courts to dismiss instances of SLAPP. They are filed for the sole purpose of shutting people up by imposing the crushing cost of a legal defense. ![]() ![]() Lawsuits of this nature are called “ Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation,” or SLAPP. But there are state laws in place that can. Of course, nothing you do can stop someone else from filing a lawsuit to silence a bad review that might negatively affect business. And opinions are, of course, protected by the U.S. But a better, equally effective way to criticize this trainer would be to say that “it looked as though she choked my dog,” and that her training methods “made me feel extremely uncomfortable.” These qualifiers – looked, feel – allow me to get my point across while avoiding accusing the trainer of something that I might not be able to back up in court. Now, what I might want to say in a Yelp review is that the trainer “abused my dog,” “choked him,” etc. I was livid, and immediately left the class. He immediately stuck out his tongue and the cheese fell out of his mouth, then he cowered away in fear. During a class, the trainer pulled a choker collar extremely tight around my dog’s neck just after feeding him a treat. To avoid stepping into factually ambiguous territory, color your review with opinions and emotions rather than exaggerations on the facts.įor example, I once took my dog to a trainer for agility lessons. Don’t say that a waiter spilled scalding coffee in your lap if he didn’t, or that you were overcharged when you weren’t. So, the number one rule when writing reviews on Yelp or elsewhere online is to be 100 percent factual in your criticisms. Most of the time, a defamatory statement must be false for the courts to rule it against the law. There are, however, limits to free speech in the U.S., and one of those limits is laws against defamation.ĭefamation applies to any statements that make someone else look bad to the public. You might think that the First Amendment protects your right to say what you like about the businesses you patronize. Here’s how to make sure that doesn’t happen. And unless you’re careful, that restaurant you just called “filthy” might sue you, too. Dietz is also seeking a preliminary injunction against Perez to keep her from writing any more Yelp reviews.ĭietz’s suit against Perez is far from the first lawsuit filed for negative Yelp reviews. According to the Washington Post, Christopher Dietz seeks $750,000 in damages in an Internet defamation lawsuit filed against Fairfax County, Virginia, resident Jane Perez, who claimed in her Yelp review that Dietz caused damage to her home, failed to complete work he said he did, and stole her jewelry. A Virginia-based building contractor has sued one of his former customers for writing a blistering review of his business on the popular review website. Did you know that you could be sued for writing a negative review of a business on Yelp? It’s true. ![]()
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